Cast Net Contest Winners
 to send us your best story, and win a free net!
(Entries may be edited for brevity.)
WINNER: August, 2007
When I was eleven, I was introduced to Super Spreader cast nets. I quickly became addicted to the ease of throwing, quick sinking, and the net opening fully practically every time I threw. I then went to the nearest sporting goods store and bought a ss-750 Series four foot net. I still have that net and still use it, whether I am catching bait or just having fun, which is very easy to do with such a great net. That net has caught everything from shiners and minnows, chain pickerel, bream, shad, bass (quickly released), huge tilapia, pompano, mullet, menhaden, and even an eight pound mudfish. I have had many good experiences with my net, including digging holes in the beach sand that were filled with water and promptly filling them with pompano for a homemade aquarium. Or another time when I was the only one getting bites using shad for bait caught in my net on the St. Johns River, except for a friend who I dontated some bait to. Or scaring people half to death when I pulled up a huge, thrashing and splashing mudfish from a boat dock. Or the time when I and a friend were catching tilapia and we brought them home and ate them. They were so big you could only fit two into a 5-gallon bucket. Two years later and I still have the same net, no worse for wear. It is still in great shape and I use it regularly. I regret that I am upgrading to a six foot net, but it is a Super Spreader, so I am not at all worried about the quality of my next net.
Stories from our customers
This is not your typical story about " I bought a ..net..on the first cast...filled..", instead this is a story about cast nets that work for a living. As a fishing guide on the Texas Gulf coast I use a lot of live bait in a year. By catching the bait with a cast net a lot of money is saved not to mention that the bait is lively and is what the fish are feeding on at the time. A good net such as the Fitec Pro Series and Fitec Pro Select makes easy work out of catching bait. The net opens full and sinks fast meaning more area is covered and less bait is missed. This is important when you have clients sitting in the boat eager to start fishing and don't want to waste their day chasing bait. I use the Fitec Pro Series and the Fitec Pro Select in the seven foot radius in the ¼ and 3/8 inch mesh depending on what bait I'm after . I have learned that these nets spread open superior to the discount store nets and will catch more bait per cast. In conclusion the Fitec nets are quick to pay for themselves in both time and money.
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In June 2007, my team was fishing in a catfish tournament at a local lake. I had been using my Fitec net to catch a few live shad as we needed them. For this reason, I still had my net out and handy. About an hour before the tournament ended, I hooked into a nice catfish. After a good little battle, the hook just came out of his mouth about ten feet from the shore. My partner yelled at me that the fish was still there, just hanging out. I grabbed my Fitec Super Spreader and made one cast, right on target. Well I'll just say that a 9 pound 8 ounce Channel catfish can tear a few holes in a net. But after landing him and finding out he weighed in as the Big Fish and put my team in first place for over $400.00 in prize money, I didn't mind the holes.
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Being in college the bank account usually reads LOW BALANCE, so catchin dinner is a plus. A couple of my roomates and I fish the San Pablo River here in Jacksonville, FL with some regularity. Our big thing here is redfish, and he who has the freshest bait catches the biggest fish. Now, my father uses a FITEC castnet in the Tampa Bay area and swears by it, so for X-mas my dad bought me a FITEC Super Spreader like his. Well, I got back to J-ville and busted it out on the finger mullet under the bridge, all my friends laughed, they all claimed that I wasted my money and that they could catch just as much bait with their cheaper, low-grade cast nets. I told them that I would bet that not only would my net catch more but that anybody could throw it in 3 tries. The bet was simple, I would ask the next person that walked over the bridge to be our guinea pig, if I won They each would have to do my laundry for a week, if I lost the bet I would have to clean the fish for the next 3 trips...no fun!! Over the bridge comes a boy on a bike about 8 yrs old and about half as tall as my net was long. I showed him the basic technique and then stood back to let my fate unfold. Toss number one hit the bridge pileon and never hit the water, good form just bad toss. The second toss was a full spread, I honestly couldn't believe it hit the open water and pulled up about 6 Finger mullet, when my friend were barely pullin 3-4!! Luck.. I don't know, I think it has something to do with the net. True story, I bought the kid a drink at the dock and and now my fishin buddies are laundry-boys.
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My friend and I had always bought bait and never thought of catching our own bait until one day we were fishing one of the inlets in Virginia Beach. We saw several people throwing cast nets and pulling in dozens of baitfish. We talk to one of them about how to throw, and where to find one. They said, “if you going to get one get a Fitec you won’t regret it” So later that day I called around, found a Fitec dealer, immediately drove out, and bought one. When I got home, I went into the back yard and practiced for about twenty minutes. I felt comfortable that I’d be able to catch my own bait. The next day I took my thirteen-year-old daughter fishing to the same inlet. After making a few throws, she wanted to try it. So I gave her a few instructions and with-in three throws she threw it perfectly. My heart beamed with pride as I saw the net open to full circle and hit the water. We were both cheering at the sight. When she started to pull in the net, she looked at me and said “Dad it feels real heavy”. So I helped her pull it in and not only did she net about a half dozen baitfish but she had netted two good size Puppy Drums. I looked at her and said “well doesn’t that figure every time I teach you something about fishing you have to go and show me up”. Then we laugh till our sides ached. What a great day.
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One time I went to my grandmas house to go catch some bait in her canal and I spotted some oscars. So I cast the net there. When I pulled the net up I had about a doven 3 to 6 inch oscars and one 2 foot sucker fish which now lives in my pond.
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My wife recently bought me a 4ft fitec super spreader for fathers day. Since getting the cast net my son and I have better fishing trips. We always come home with fish ranging from 14 ounces to 2 1/2 lbs. I have caught several large mullet and 2 1/2 lb black drum. We also come home with enough shrimp to go fishing with the next time! We catch more fish with the net than we do with our poles.
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This is a great story and an experience I will never forget! My 3 sons and I spent a week on Jekyll Island, GA. We had never been to Jekyll, but the promise of spending a week camping out and fishing all day, everyday, seemed a great way to spend a week, especially for us guys! So that first morning, we couldn't wait to get at 'em! But we were shocked to learn that the only bait shrimp we could buy on the island were frozen... and expensive. An island local told us we could go to St. Simon's Island to buy live shrimp, "Or," he said, "you could just catch your own. That's what we do." He suggested we go into Brunswick to find a "good" net. "You'll be glad you did." I wish I could remember the name of the tackle shop he gave us directions to, but the husband-wife team owners were the best! I told him I was there for a cast net. He walked me down an aisle and pointed out his stock. "Hmmm?" I don't know what I expected, but I had never bought a net. The owner correctly surmised that I was like a dear caught in the headlight. "I use a Fitec," he said. "You'll have it for a years, so buy quality. You'll be glad you did." Where had I heard that before? With his guidance, we bought a Fitec Pro 5 foot with 1/2" mesh. He said Georgia has legal limit of 1/2". It cost around $75, but we could easliy spend $50-$60 that week on live bait, AND we would still have the net. Best part of the story, when we get back to Jekyll Creek, the pogies are literally popping like popcorn. Turns out my kids cast like old salts in just a few tries (really, they learned in just a few casts!) and boat dozens of pogies with each cast. We had more fun with that net during that trip than with anything! And we caught shrimp, too, so we had scampi for dinner... instead of hotdogs. Thanks for the memories!
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Well, this story happened not to long ago and I'm only 14 years old. I was using one of my grandpa's cast nets down at Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. It was my first time throwing a cast net and I was doing pretty well catching manahaden and pinfish. I was using 3 ft that spreaded out to 6 ft and I really didnt know how to use one. Suprisingly I caught three small mullet on my first cast at a huge school of mullet. So any way I threw at a huge school of small manahaden and let my net sink to the bottom which was only about five feet and caught three huge popeye mullet. Come to find out, my grandpa who was using a 6 ft cast net that spreaded out to 12 feet hadn't caught any popeye mullet that day. Oh well, I can say now that that was the best time I've ever had fishing with my grandpa. I've loved cast netting ever since too because my grandpa introduced me to the sport of bait fishing
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This past September I purchased a new Fitec Super Spreader six foot cast net. Though I've tried other brands, I found that I get the best spread with the Fitec Super Spreader which allows for optimum catches of bait fish and shrimp so that's all I use!
My husband and I went out shrimping around Cumberland Island, Georgia as we've done many times since we retired and I figured I'd take my new Fitec Super Spreader cast net and break it in. After catching approximately 24 quarts of shrimp, I decided I'd throw just one more time before we went in.
I threw my net from the bow of the boat, getting a good spread as I always do with this brand of net and thought I'd caught an oyster bed until the net came alive! I was finally able to get the net up (with my husband's help) to find a huge black drum that was 45 inches long and tipped the scales at just over 60 pounds! Best of all, it didn't hurt my net at all and I still use it. We made even made the sports section of our local newspaper!
Please keep up the good work and keep making these great nets that are easy to throw and give you a great spread with every throw! Sincerely, Ruth Harvey
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To start with, let me just say that until yesterday, I had never thrown a cast net in my life. And, because I live in Northern California, where cast nets are something of a rarity, it was just last year that I actually saw someone using a cast net. Within an hour he managed to load his five-gallon bucket with what I estimated to be about $20 worth of live baitfish. I was duly impressed. He offered me the chance to try his net (a 6' radius SS 1000 Series), but I politely declined as I imagined myself completely fouling myself in his net and stumbling into the water.
A couple of months ago, while browsing through a local tackle shop, I noticed that they carried cast nets (very rare here in the San Francisco Bay Area). I walked away with a 3-1/2' radius RS 750 Series thinking this would be a good beginner's net.
However, due to lousy weather AND the fear of making a fool of myself by throwing it wrong, I never attempted to use my net - that is until yesterday. I saw the same guy I had seen the previous year with his net at a local pier. When I saw him pull up about a dozen baitfish on a single throw, I decided that it was about time to give it a shot. I went back to my truck, quickly leafed through the throwing instructions one more time and marched back to the pier, net in hand.
The moment of truth had arrived. I set up my grasp on the net as described in the instructions and threw my net over the railings.
To my complete surprise, my net opened completely as it made a graceful arch down towards the water. It hit the surface in a perfect circle! To top it off, I caught 10 baitfish ON MY VERY FIRST THROW!!! In about half an hour, I had more than enough bait for a day's fishing. Using a cast net was easier than I ever imagined!
I am now a believer in using cast nets for catching live bait. Before, I either had to spend LOTS of money for live bait, or spend more time jigging for bait than I actually spent going for the game fish.
Thanks to my Fitec net, I will never again waste my time or money trying to get live bait again!!!
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The fall brings a lot of things for a lot of people. For some it brings the start of college football. For some it brings cooler weather and the start of hunting season. For me it brings the new season for bait casting for South Carolina shrimp.
As a child in the upstate of South Carolina I was dressed in Clemson orange and off to the games we went every Saturday starting in September. Now starting in September I am wearing a rain suit (Still Clemson Orange) and catch cooler after cooler of fresh South Carolina shrimp with my 8' 1/2" Fitec Pro Select Series bait casting net.
Every year as it gets closer to the fall everyone is hyped over their football team and what the season may bring. For me I can think of nothing but standing on the bow of my boat with my 8' 1/2" Fitec and the amount of shrimp it will bring in with each cast. Thanks for making such a great product. Maybe in a few years you can make an Orange net!!! Sincerely, Joshua Holcombe
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I have had my 'FITEC' Super Spreader Pro Series 5' 3/8 in. mesh cast net for over a year now and have caught countless dozens of gizzard and threadfin shad. Certainly the net paid for itself about the fourth or fifth time out, if you base prices on purchased live bait at the the bait shops. BUT...That's not the story! My family and I have just completed a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama (1st time to Gulf Shores) and of course I took my 'Super Spreader' along with me. Locally caught baits are what the 'local' fish feed on... right? Well, My brother-in-law and I took out one morning to fish the jetties and stopped on the 'bay side' to catch bait.
Hoping to catch finger mullet for trout or grey snapper, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find on my first cast: 4 finger mullet, 5 shrimp, 2 croaker, 1 small crab, and a baby flounder(which I immediately released), came back on the retrieve. My brother-in-law kept saying, "Wow! Wow! I can't believe all that bait in one cast." I told him don't always expect to be that lucky on every cast. He was so excited about catching bait that he asked to throw the net.(No previous experience) With a couple minutes of coaching he was about to throw a pretty well-rounded cast. He thinks it was his 'quick learning'- I told him it was the coaching... But anyone who has used a 'Super Spreader' knows it's gotta be the net! Thanks for an OUTSTANDING PRODUCT!
Oh...Did we catch fish? You know we did! 3 grunts, 5 hardheads, one "Break-Off"-Probably a mackerel and 1 pompano-One good eating fish and the rest were fun...almost as much fun as wondering what the next cast of the net would retrieve! Now you have another devoted fan other than myself! Sincerely, Ross Harlow
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Last spring I was trying to gather herring in one of the tidal creeks here on Maryland's Eastern Shore to use as bait for Rockfish (Striped Bass). I was throwing a cheap Tyzac by Betts 4-footer below a small dam. There were a lot of snags and other debris in the water and after numerous hang-ups - and failed attempts to untangle the net - it still would not open correctly. On further inspection I noticed that numerous lines, lead, and brail had broken. After some stream-side mending I figured it would be okay but no such luck! I went home without much bait and called a friend to explain my dilemma.
He told me about the E-Z Throw nets and brought one of his to my house. I was amazed at the ease of operation, and after going back to the creek and trying it out I could not believe the durability as well. Needless to say what started out as a day filled with frustration and little bait turned out to be a productive outing after all!
My hat is off to you for making a quality product, and I will continue to use them in the future. Sincerely, Mike Rose
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He was moping around the house and grousing about paying good money for bait - $2.50 for a dozen worms, $5.00 for a dozen minnows, $3.50 for a dozen sickly crawdads. "Man, I wish I could just go out to Sutters Bypass and catch some fresh, wigglin' bait. If only I had a another castnet like the one I got from Fitec - but it was stolen."
So I bought him another Fitec castnet over the Internet, legal size - 3 feet for California fresh water - and he took it out to catch bait. I took some photos of the castnet fully extended as it hit the water, looking like a flower in full bloom in the morning sun.
We caught abundant crawdads with a flick of the wrist, and soon a 5 gallon bucket was full. I'll admit, the fattest ones weren't eaten by the fish. Yum! But the rest were just fine for bait. That was the fish-gettinest bait you ever saw. Thank you, Fitec,, for the SuperSpreader - a superior way to get bait. A. X. Harris
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Shrimp baiting is one of the most challenging sports on the Gulf coast. They call it recreational shrimping, but I don't know why. It's hard work!
Last October, we were catching shrimp with my old seven foot net when all of a sudden I pulled in an eel about three foot long. He was so wrapped up in the lead line I couldn't get him out. The only other net I had was an eight foot Fitec Super Spreader I bought prior to the season. I'd never thrown anything larger than seven, but I decided to give my new net a try.
My new Super Spreader always opened beautifully , from the very first cast, and we caught our limit of shrimp quickly. From now on I'll always throw an eight foot net. Thank you, Fitec, for helping me cover more water per throw. I owe you a South Carolina shrimp cocktail!
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